The Blog Home of Daniel

The shape of things to come...

2010-05-17T21:23:00.001-07:00

Today I made a big mistake. I created a video in just a few minutes and uploaded it. I followed all the moves I'd never thought I'd make, yet had done so many times recently. I lost sight of the reason I started on youtube. I joined youtube for the fun and thrill of uploading a video, the anticipation of comments, the unpredictability of a video being big or just getting a few views.

Somewhere along the line I failed to keep youtube fun. I started to grasp for money, I've done too many videos with highly deceptive thumbnails, I'm not going to cover it up. I started to grasp for fame, even if I didn't like someone's content, I pretended I did just to not burn bridges and hope they'd promote me along the way. I loved the numbers, LOOK I GAINED X SUBSCRIBERS TODAY! Or YES I HIT 30,000 even tho my videos average 5,000 views recently. This is sad.

So with this comes the end of alwaystextback, but I'm not leaving, or like sxephil - saying I'm leaving. I'm simply starting over. Losing all the numbers I thought I needed. This has been an interesting decision, and the search for a new username will be interesting, but I'm up for the challenge all this holds. It's hard to build your brand for 2 years and then change it completely. I'm sure some people will follow me to the new channel, while most will drop off, but I'm game.

Note, series I love and videos I love will be reuploaded and continue on (Woke Up in A Car, Swingers Confessional), but I also will no longer be holding myself to a upload schedule. One big mistake I have made was expecting myself to release two videos a week no matter what. This resulted in poor quality, stupid, and just pathetic videos when I was unable to produce a better content set.

Good things are coming. Thank you for sticking around.
-Daniel

365 Playlist Catch Up

2010-05-15T22:25:00.000-07:00

Updated: 5/15

Jack's Mannequin "The Mixed Tape"
The Rocket Summer "Cross My Heart"
Cash Cash "Party in Your Bedroom"
Kris Allen "Live Like We're Dying"
Rob Thomas "Give Me The Meltdown"
Something Corporate "I Woke Up In A Car"
Cartel "Honestly"
Parachute "Under Control"
Relient-K "Must Have Done Something Right"
The Oceanic Six "Henry Gale"
The Secret Handshake "TGIF"
Steve Means "X-Ray Eyes"
The Cab "I'll Run"
Flight of The Conchords "Sugalumps"
MGMT "Kids"
B.O.B. "Nothin' on You"
Capital Lights "Mile Away"
A Rocket To The Moon "If You Only Knew"
Nathan Angelo "Brighter Days"
Jack's Mannequin "I'm Ready"
Kris Allen "Alright With Me"
Quietdrive "The Seasons"
Flight of The Conchords "Business Time"
The Oceanic Six "Mr. Eko"
Something Corporate "If You C Jordan"
Modest Mouse "Float On"
Jason Mraz "The Remedy"
Jonathan Clay "Around and Round"
David Archuleta "Touch My Hand"
Michael Johns "Heart on My Sleeve"
Cartel "Let's Go"
Jack's Mannequin "Sleezy Wednesday"
A Rocket To The Moon "Life of The Party"
Jason Reeves "You in A Song"
O.A.R. "Hey Girl"

I solved LOST

2010-05-04T11:41:00.000-07:00

The title of this epic theory is:

JACOB SHOPPED AT DILLARDS

Dillards broken down into D I L L A R D S with it's corresponding numbers in alphabetical order is 4 9 12 12 1 18 4 19

So remove the Dill and you have ARDS or 1 18 4 19.

1 + 18 + 4 + 19 = 42! AKA candidate KWON *unknown*

Out of Sun Kwon and Jin Kwon, Sun is the only of the two who matches any letters in the original ARDS (1,18.4,19).

I L in Dillards is also 9 and 12. 9x12 = 108! 108 x 3 = the current number of Dillards stores (324)!

In the original D I L L A R D S equation, the number 4 appears twice. 4 originates from 4,8,15,16,23,42. Like I said 4 appears twice, 4x2 = 8. Another of the numbers!

Dillards alphabetized is A D D I L L R S we see the word ADD ILLRS. ILLRS = 9 12 12 18 19. Those added together = 70. 70 - A D D (1, 4, 4) = 61. No significance.

Dillards number of letters divided in half is 4 = one of the numbers. 4,8,15,16,23,42.

Dillards has 8 letters. 8 = one of the numbers. 4,8,15,16,23,42.

Going back to the original formula where D I L L A R D S = 4 9 12 12 1 18 4 19: S - I + D + A = 19 - 9 + 4 + 1 = 15 = one of the numbers! 4,8,15,16,23,42.

Dillards did not sponsor a show called SWEET 16 on MTV. 16 = one of the numbers! 4,8,15,16,23,42.

Dillards operated 2 stores in 1938. 1+9+3+8+2 = 23 = one of the numbers! 4,8,15,16,23,42.

Most of Dillards employees have or will reach the age of 42. 42 = one of the numbers! 4,8,15,16,23,42.

108 minutes it the average time a customer spends in Dillards per month. 108 = the combination of the numbers!

So as you can see I've clearly solved the entire series of Lost. I know I should have tagged this post spoilers, however I wanted you to see that I solved it before the finale and now you when you watch the finale you can just enjoy images of Sawyer taking his shirt off and Kate and Jungle Claire sunbathing all while Jack and Man in Black discuss the actual connection to Dillards.

You're welcome.

Dear Jack

2009-12-10T10:11:00.000-08:00

Music is a very big and important part of my life. One of my favorite bands for the past 83457943 years is Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin both headed by Andrew McMahon. Without even actually knowing him, he's still been a really big part of my life. Even my video series "I Woke Up in A Car" was inspired by the Something Corporate song "I Woke Up in A Car."

If you don't know, Something Corporate released a few albums and then in 2005 as Andrew was preparing to release the debut Jack's Mannequin album he was diagnosed with leukemia. Originally he had a small camera to film basically a behind the scenes of making the album, it then turned into making a documentary of him living in the hospital while he fought leukemia. Eventually beating the disease, and another album release later, Andrew remains an inspiration to me and many others. The documentary and "Dear Jack" album are available now on iTunes and are very emotional. I watched recently and cried a ton I'm not ashamed to admit.

Anyways, Andrew founded the "Dear Jack" foundation which is a great charity helping fund cancer research. I strongly suggest you donate, as I will be.

So please check out: http://www.dearjackfoundation.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/dearjackhq
And of course the album and dvd on iTunes.

Justin Bieber

2009-11-17T23:19:00.000-08:00

By now, everyone knows the name Justin Bieber, before his album release he already sent 4 songs into the top 10 on iTunes, scored a few top 10 hot 100 hits, and now on the day of his album release he's sitting at #2 on iTunes right behind John Mayer, but ahead of Leona Lewis, Norah Jones, OneRepublic, and 50 Cent!

He may appeal widely to teenage girls who cry over The Jonas Brothers, Twilight, and whatever, but YOU as a YOUTUBER need to be behind him and this blog is to tell you why.

So far in the music industry, acts discovered on youtube like Marie Digby and Esmee have failed to actually make a dent in the American music market, however once Justin Bieber came along, scoring millions of views on his videos singing covers of popular songs he got signed and immediately was producing hits. His debut single "ONE TIME" went to #14 on radio airplay, #1 on iTunes, top 10 on the hot 100, and he's just about to pass 1 million in single sales. Throw on top of that the other songs "One Less Lonely Girl," "Love Me," and "Favorite Girl" that have already sold hundreds of thousands more.

The thing is, rather you're a youtube musician or ANYONE on youtube wanting to break out in some form or another, Justin Bieber's success is benefitting you. Now more record labels will be watching youtube video's looking for the next Justin Bieber. When they discovered Justin they had a whole portfolio of his work right in front of them. It's not some faceless mix tape, it's not them having to pay talent scouts to find potential artists, it's easy and cheap and they're gonna wanna score more HITS like they did with Justin Bieber.

If you're not a youtube musician, there's still good news. More media/entertainment related companies and producers will be scouring youtube for undiscovered talent. Companies love nothing more than people who already come with a huge fanbase. So rather you want to be a comedy writer, a show host, an editor, a camera operator, a director, a musician, anything, your chances of going from a nobody to a star is increased every time someone clicks "BUY" on Justin Bieber's work. The more and more popular he gets, the more and more producers will be looking to score their next success from youtube.

So rather you like pop music, rather you like Justin Bieber's music or not, you need to be behind him if you have any goals or dreams for success in entertainment.

the future?

2009-10-25T18:36:00.000-07:00

Hi I didn't mean to leave my blog updateless for so long. I'll fix that.

There's a few changes happening to my youtube channel. For starters, instead of "new video every friday" it's now new videos every Monday and Thursday. With just 7 days to go in Blogtober, Music Meltdown will resume on it's channel. And now I'm sort of practiced at a 365 project and able to contemplate rather I really want to do it or not for 2010.

So to keep it simple, you can find me on alwaystextback Monday and Thursday.

Extras: http://www.youtube.com/atxbcrew
Music Meltdown (2 times a week on average): http://www.youtube.com/givemethemeltdown

The only other thing is that I just joined a group channel called #DailyFML and I'll be on there every Sunday:
http://www.youtube.com/dailyFML

Any questions? HAHA

I'm going to clean my room now...jeez!

dirty cops

2009-07-26T15:09:00.000-07:00

Last monday I was driving home from The Secret Handshake concert in Georgia. I had a long drive and it was already 3 AM. I was cruising right along with traffic, next to a semi and we were all going right about 80 in the 70. Everyone spots the cop "hidden" up ahead and slows down of course...As we pass the cop I see him pull out and I start cussing and praying (good combination, right?) and I switch into the right lane hoping he just goes right past. Nope, he gets behind me. No lights on tho, I'm then hoping he's just checking my plate to see if it's a stolen car and if not (which it wasn't) he wouldn't bother me. There go the lights :( I pull over into the next exit and cuss up a storm before he's quickly at my window. He asks where I'm going, I tell him I'm headed home, he asks where I was and I said a concert. I shouldn't have said that, because he instantly thinks that since I'm 22, but look like I'm 16...I must be high! I'm not sure if there's anything I hate more in life than being assumed something like that. Instead of asking if I'm high, he says "were any of your friends smoking weed at the concert?" I said "no, especially not around me." And he says "I'm not accusing you" and I said "well, I'm the one you pulled over." HAHA pretty witty, but not too smart to say to a cop.

He asks me to step out -_- and they start asking me a crazy load of questions, I suppose to test my memory and see if I'm high. I continue to offer them all the answers and point out that their welcome to tear my car apart looking, breathalyzer me and whatever they want. I point out that I'm an advocate against weed and that on my arm I have a wristband with my best friends name on it...He was killed by someone who was driving high, the hell if they think that I would!

They keep going on an on asking again and again "were any of your friends smoking weed?" And I kept giving the same defense..

Then the one cop says "what about when you kept running off the road?" And I said "what?" He said "When we got behind you, you kept running off the road." I said "no I didn't!" And he says "Yes, you don't remember that?" Obviously trying to make me "high" again...So I said "No, because it didn't happen." WHAT THE HECK!!

Then the BIG LOL moment. He says "you know why I pulled you over right?" And I said "Yes, all of us were going over the speed limit." He said "Yeah, I clocked you at 93." I literally laughed and said "No way, that's not even possible in that car!" And he maintained, but I said that is definitely NOT true, just as I was NOT high!

The one goes back to his car and the other one starts asking me THE SAME QUESTIONS AGAIN and it's not like he wasn't standing there too...MAYBE he was high? Then the other comes back and starts explaining the ticket saying he wrote it for 93, which I rolled my eyes, then he said "But I didn't write you a ticket for failure to yield the median...I'm just gonna give you a warning." And I said "well good, since it didn't happen!"

But then the one big kicker...the ticket didn't have a price. I said "how much is this gonna run me?" Not telling him that I was definitely going to be in court to fight it. So he said I'd have to call in and get the fine amount...That makes no sense because all the other times I've talked to people who have gotten tickets, they've had the fine on the ticket. Not like I can afford this either.

So I'll for sure be in court fighting the fact that the cop continually harassed me trying to get me to confess to weed which I never have had, NEVER IN MY LIFE, also wrote me a ticket for a speed I wasn't going, and lied about the median thing. Anyone ever fought a ticket before? How did it go?

2009-07-03T18:02:00.001-07:00

Tent Sex

2009-06-23T23:32:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have been absent from making videos or posting hardly anything in June, this will be corrected. Allow me to hold you over with someone else's creative genius...This is a group of GREAT youtubers who are having a "Genius Camp" and they create hilarious, hilarious stuff! Here's a few of the new ones tonight!

www.youtube.com/geniuscamp <-- Subscribe!

Goodbye Jay :(

2009-05-26T21:40:00.000-07:00

I've been watching Jay Leno every night for the past 7 years. Even on school nights in high school I was up late watching Jay then Conan. After tonight, there's only 3 Tonight Shows left with Jay...It sucks to think about being so used to something and it just being done. Jay and Conan have been heavy influences on my comedy style...although I guess that would make you think Jay and Conan must not be funny! LOL But really, it's been such a great run. Jay's a great person, and a hilarious comedian. I got to go to a show taping thanks to Alex and Angel taking me, it was the coolest thing. It was unreal getting to see everything "behind the scenes" and how things go everyday while I sit at home and watch.

As it comes to a close, I'm definitely very sad, even considered making a vlog about it, but let's be honest, I suck at vlogs LOL...But I am so thankful for the great times!

Ahh inspiration

2009-05-23T14:45:00.000-07:00

I've mentioned a few times that I've had a hard time getting inspiration to write some new songs..I think that has finally passed! Last night I was watching a movie and a line from The Secret Handshake song "Little Song" came in my head and it says "I wanna write the soundtrack to your life and live it with you." I thought instead of trying to write songs, I should write an album. A lot of artists albums today are based around 4 songs or "singles" and the rest is filler...it's rather sad, and it's part of what is killing music sales, not just piracy.

I am going to write an album with the working title "The Soundtrack To Our Lives" and each song is going to be like a chapter in a couples lives. Probably starting out with a song about meeting in high school, college, a song about deciding if she's the one for him, etc and all the way through the "average" life milestones.

I have to say, I am HIGHLY excited about this, I'm finally getting back into the groove and have some good things to come!!

If you're unfamiliar with some of my past work, this is a song I wrote about the attack on Virginia Tech, it has the lyrics and by most is regarded as my best work.

People who make me sick

2009-05-15T21:46:00.000-07:00

Some of you know I work in a drugstore...Each year the whole company tries to raise money for the Children's Miracle Network which is an amazing charity that benefits children who get cancer or any diseases or sickness. A few companies sponsor coupons, Crest, Oil of Olay, and stuff like that, so if a person donates ONE DOLLAR then they get six dollars worth of coupons, PLUS THE FREAKIN FACT THAT YOU HELPED A SICK CHILD...but you know what, so many people refuse to give ONE DOLLAR.

The cashiers ring up the people's items and nicely ask "would you like to donate a dollar to the Children's Miracle Network?" And I've noticed as so many people are spending endless cash on themselves, but too GREEDY to give ONE DOLLAR to a child...

THAT

MAKES

ME

SICK

Quickly, think back to your childhood, I know some people have problems, but I had a perfect childhood...it went like this. Sleep, eat, play, eat, play, eat, play, sleep, eat, play, eat, play, sleep. I didn't have to spend days in the hospital, I didn't have to have chimotherapy, I wasn't sick...I got to eat until I got fat, sleep till I wasn't tired, and play until I didn't want to play anymore. But there are kids who spend months, YEARS, dying in the hospital, and YOU won't GIVE ONE DOLLAR to help them have a little fun in the few years of life they get...YOU MAKE ME SICK!!!

Especially things I've noticed, I can understand some people are struggling, but often the people who are buying 1 sale item or store brand items that are cheaper are the ones that donate...and some people choose to donate MORE than a dollar...but I've been observing the group of people who turn it down...Yesterday a man was buying $24.99 sunglasses and a big pack of tylenol $14.99 but could he spare ONE DOLLAR FOR A CHILD...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Another lady, she bought the most random and ridiculous crap, none of it was on sale, none of it was neccessities like medicines, it was porch decorations and candy, and JUNK...she spent $119 and WROTE A CHECK (can't say she didn't have enough) and WOULD NOT GIVE ONE DOLLAR TO A DYING CHILD....SHE MAKES ME SICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I see that all day, people buy things they don't need, they don't go for cheaper options so they obviously HAVE the money...but their too far up their own ass to make sure they SPOIL theirselves, can't give a dollar to a child....

So, I thought while writing this I might make a vlog or something talking about these disgusting people and put the link up for people to donate to CMN cuz it truly is a GREAT THING and people should feel HONORED to have a chance to GIVE to them...So I'll post the link here, you don't have to tell me if you donate...for one, most of my friends and people who read my blog are still in school and don't have jobs...that's understandable, but the sick thing about these people is, they have jobs, they make plenty of money...they spend so much on theirselves, but are so UNWILLING to give to a CHILD and that, as I've said MANY times now...MAKES ME SICK!!!

https://www.childrensmiraclenetwork.org/onlinedonations/en-US/selection.aspx

-Daniel

sneak peek!

2009-05-10T12:29:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, I'm unsure if I want to keep working on this, but here's the intro...so give me some constructive criticism in the comments and maybe I'll keep working on it!

Secrets of Comedy!

2009-05-07T11:16:00.000-07:00

A lot of people ask me, "Daniel, you've got these series like Woke Up in A Car, Swingers Confessional, how do you come up with your jokes and what is the secret to your comedy?"

There is a very simple formula I use when trying to come up with something funny. All I do is think of something, then I ask myself, "would sxephil say it?" If the answer is yes, then it's not funny. If the answer is no, then I use it!

So there is my secret revealed! Don't abuse it!

IMPORTANT

2009-05-01T23:00:00.000-07:00

please vote me 10 stars in this contest!!

http://tinyurl.com/textback

Comment on here if you voted so i can thank you!!

Contest entry!

2009-04-29T22:03:00.001-07:00

ACCENT EXTREME

2009-04-27T10:18:00.000-07:00

Last week on blogtv I announced that I paid off one of my school credit cards and that was a huge step in my getting out of debt. Last night I called the other credit card company in attempt to get what I owe lowered. Usually they knock out something. The funnest part about calling these kinds of places...mixing accents. I always get someone who is very foreign to english and I of course am talking super southern. "Ay yall i'ma calllll bout mahhh cre-car" "Oh OK what would you like do today?" LOL without fail, it's the most "could you repeat that?" type of call you can get. I think I actually try to talk more southern just for the fun of it.

In good news tho, if all goes as planned, I'll be out of debt by JULY 1st! I'm trying to set an earlier goal, June 12th, but if not by then, then I should have it by June 26th when I get mypaycheck.

I am very excited, and expect another blogtv very soon to cut another card :)

FREE MUSIC - STEVE MEANS "YOU AND ME"

2009-04-22T10:58:00.000-07:00

My good friend Steve Means has a new single out and you HAVE TO HEAR IT!! I decided I'm going to do a little promotion for him so you can hear it for free and LOVE it.

The first FIVE people who leave a comment with their email address will get a FREE gift code to download it on iTunes.

ON TOP OF THAT...If you don't make the first five, I've got an equally awesome deal for you. If you buy the song on itunes and you don't like it...Email me and I will give you a gift code to any 99 cent song on the iTunes store (except ashlee simpson and katy perry, because that is not music). It's going by honesty, so don't lie and say you don't like the song just to get a free one. I am that confident in this song that I know you will like it and I won't have to "buy it back."

(Limited to the first 10 who "don't like it" must email screen shot showing the song in your itunes purchased playlist. If not satisfied with the song, email to dcarterlive@gmail.com)

STEVE MEANS "YOU AND ME" DOWNLOAD NOW!!

I was on American Idol!!

2009-04-16T22:42:00.000-07:00

As some of you might remember, I made it through to the top 10 on American Idol this year! Thanks everyone who voted for me!! For some reason tho, Fox wouldn't let me keep my audition video on my channel so it was only up for about 18 hours. Now tho (until funnyordie deletes it) you can watch it right here!!

Ashlee Simpson 'Idle' Audition - watch more funny videos

summer, meh, summer, meh, summer, meh

2009-04-06T11:45:00.000-07:00

Summer is getting started, I kind of skip spring, but whatever isn't fall/winter, I love.

This year I think I'm going to make some summer play lists that mix in older songs that remind me of previous summers, while adding in this year's new stuff. Do you have any summer traditions, going to the beach, swimming a ton? Leave me a comment and let me know.

As far as my job's going, idk..I'm considering just trying to hang around because I'd like to take a lot of vacation in the summer and I prob wouldn't be able to do that starting a new job...but idk, we'll see where things go.

next viral hit!

2009-04-01T21:27:00.001-07:00

Oh, Summer...

2009-03-24T11:21:00.000-07:00

When Spring finally..uh.."springs?" I get so excited every year. It seems like in the winter with shorter days and so much gloomy weather, I just sort of attach myself to the computer in some kind of hibernation waiting for warm summer weather.

Last summer I basically worked inside the whole time and I have to say it was one of the most miserable summers of my life. I'm not letting that happen again. Already yesterday I cut the work day short and went to play basketball...I'm going to make sure my summer isn't wasted away by a crappy job.

Obviously Summer is my favorite season, what is yours? I've heard of a few people that like winter, but I don't get that crap...what's to like? Everything looks dead, the days are short, and it's COLD... Let me know!

You're grounding me?

2009-03-15T20:58:00.000-07:00

You may have seen my tweet earlier today, "I'm 22 years old and I am grounded :("

Basically the conversation went like this,

Me: Really? You're grounding me?
Me: Yes, absolutely.
Me: I'm 22 years old!

I've grounded myself. Yes, in a rare and weird twist, I'm grounding myself. And here is how it's going to go down.

One month ago when I returned from California on february 15th, I set a goal of having a new job in one month, tomorrow I officially fail on achieving that goal so there is only one solution...ground myself. I have a tendency to stay up too late and that leads to me sleeping in and not having time to look for another job before going to my crappy job, instead I only have time on my days off. So starting tomorrow night the internet goes off and I go to bed by 1 AM, NO EXCEPTIONS...except weekends LOL!

In addition, I'm grounding myself from ANY and ALL unneccessary spending. This means when I'm at work and feel like snacking - NOPE. When I see a cool poster, item, whatever - CAN'T BUY IT NO MATTER WHAT.

This way, not only am I going to quickly secure a much better and higher paying job, but with no unneccessary spending, I'll be saving and paying off college debt much faster.

This is only phase one of my grounding. I'm already preparing harsher punishments that I'll be implementing soon if neccessary. If too much time goes by without getting another job, I will be totally eliminating my internet usage until I do. I've got other things in the works, so I hope I get another job soon, cuz while this whole thing is rather cheesy, I'm determined and if you know me, you know I'm pretty stubborn when it comes to these types of things.

Wish me luck!!

Youtubirthday

2009-03-06T22:19:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I definitely "borrowed" the term Youtubirthday from Alex.

Today March 6th marks 1 year that I've had the account alwaystextback. It's been quite a year, I've made friends with some of the coolest people, worked my way to becoming a partner, hit 600,000 total views today, and am just under 4,000 subscribers with 3,949.

So there's nothing really left to say other than THANK YOUUUUUUUU!! It's been such an amazing year and it'd have been nothing without every single one of you!! You all rock so hard and I look forward to many, many more years!!!

You had me at "VCR"

2009-03-03T22:57:00.001-08:00

I don't know if I've ever laugh so loud.

Onion-esque

2009-02-28T00:19:00.000-08:00

Tonight I finally saw "The Onion" movie and as a big fan of the videos/articles on their site, I got inspired to write a little story of my own...You like?

Normally Funny Man Disappoints

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - A cashier at the local Five-Dollar Store left work disappointed Thursday as an area man known for his humor didn't impress her. Nineteen-year-old Megan Woods said she was approached just after 4 PM by John Tankers who is known by store associates as "Johnny Jokes." The distraught cashier told the police "He's normally funny, but today I didn't even smile."

EBS News scored the first interview with Woods as she told the brave story of how she overcame this tragedy.

"As he approached me, I could see the look on his face, I knew he was going to try to tell a joke," Woods spoke softly. "He asked me if we take Hawaiian money and I told him no because we were in California. That's when he started laughing and saying it was American money, I was devastated."

Area police have yet to announce any formal charges for Tankers as they are still investigating this comedic assault.

school and debt

2009-02-21T09:40:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, my post-high school education has been very screwy due to some unlucky happenings. Because of it, I got into some debt, without much education to show for it.

That really sucked. Haha!! Now one BIG thing I want to do is being set back by the fact that I still have this debt. I mean HUGE thing. I've hinted at it and probably directly said it on Twitter numerous times, however I'm going to stop mentioning it so I can then surprise you when it happens!

But with that, I'm VERY proud to announce I've paid down my debt to....... $2,900!!

Now that might still seem like a lot of money and it is, but I have a good plan in the works of paying it off much more quickly. Plus we have the success of the chris brown video and that is certainly helping things out! My goal is to be DEBT FREE by or on April 17th, 2009.

I'm obviously beyond excited and will keep you up to date!! Big things are coming, 2009 is my year!!

Success?!

2009-02-19T14:38:00.000-08:00

If you're reading my blog you probably already know that I put a lot of time into youtube. There's something special to me about creating a video and getting feedback. I get really excited when I put up a new video and I'm checking the comments and views every minute, the community as a whole and everything involved is just so great!

I'd consider myself a pretty average youtube, about 3,500 subs, I had 300,000 total video views...Not nearly enough to be a "celebrity," but enough to show I've put work into it.

But then Chris Brown beat up Rihanna.

I was still in California, and Alex said we should make a video with their mouths just talking about what happened before he beat her up. We came up with the song idea to use all their song titles and wrote that up then sat down for 10 minutes and filmed our dialogue. Alex edited it, and then we put up our videos.

The video went up, it was doing pretty good...it had like 2,000 views the first day, but then the next day it hit. Something happened and it was at 8,000 views, then 16,000, then 23,000. I couldn't believe after all the creativity and work I did with other videos, this was finally my "hit" video. Of course I can't complain, tho I feel bad because it was Alex's idea! When I was getting ready to leave early sunday morning, that saturday night I tweeted that it had 41,000 views, that was INSANE to me already! But when I got home sunday night it had 86,000 views! It more than doubled in a day!

Since then it continues to go up, sitting at 186,000 views. It's lead to a lot more subscribers, tons of comments, and almost 700 times favorited now. But now I have a new video up, and all the excitement is calming down as this 4th episode of Swingers isn't nearly as popular as the Chris Brown current news ;)

Regardless, I am so excited after almost a year of hard work on ATB, things are finally starting to pay off, I couldn't be happier! And of course as I've repeated many times, can't give enough credit to Alex: www.youtube.com/soaroftheconchords

Prince of Parties

2009-02-17T20:03:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been to a really cool party?

Was the party still going strong at full speed, then you leave?

You realize you left, you had to leave...but the party is still going without you.

I have. :(

YAY VALENTINES

2009-02-14T13:30:00.000-08:00

I love Valentines Day, I love a lot of holidays LOL...like St. Patrick's Day, 4th of July, Cinco De Mayo, and stuff like that! If you refer back to my "dating season" blog entry, you know that tomorrow, the 15th of february, begins dating season...I don't really care tho, not really interested right now. HAHA

Anyways, this is one of my last day's of my AMAZING vacation in california, and so for Alex's 365 video today the project was to make Valentines cards...This is what he made for me, I thought the poem was HYSTERICAL:

"DANIEL:

Even though we're not ghey
There is something I'd like to say
In California I'd wish you'd stay
So we could make videos every day
And live off the money that YouTube would pay
Wouldn't that be nifty, ay?

-ALEX"

And on the front he made "ATB" (alwaystextback, duh) out of hearts...pretty cool!!

Thoughts...

2009-02-13T16:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday a plane crashed and killed 50 people...I'm fixing to get on a plane sunday and fly back across the country...This immediately made me think. I don't fear flying, and I don't really get nervous because of that accident, but I wanted to make something public should anything ever happen.

I don't want anyone to ever feel guilty if I died.

... Depressing, eh?

What I mean is, sometimes people have died in car accidents and people left behind feel guilty because the person killed was on the way to their house, running an errand for them, or etc. I do everything I do on my own free will, I don't want anyone EVER to feel guilty for any reason. If my plane crashed, I wouldn't want my mom to feel guilty because she let me go on this trip, I wouldn't want Alex or any of his family to feel guilty because if I didn't come to stay with them, then I'd still be alive.

Basically, in my world - what happens, happens. So should I die anytime soon, I hope people aren't sad (YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN), but I hope people enjoy the time they had with me...And same goes for anyone else. Death is a horrible part of life, but we have to deal with it the best we can.

SLEEP TALKING

2009-02-08T14:40:00.000-08:00

Back in early january when me and Cade were staying at Zach's house, one morning Zach had to get up early to go somewhere. His alarm went off at something like 6:30 and it didn't wake me or Cade up, but Zach got up. Even tho I was deeply asleep I suppose my brain was mad about hearing his alarm so I said very forcefully "THREE THOUSAND PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BURN DOWN YOUR HOUSE!!"

Two nights ago, Alex, myself, and Angel were deep asleep yet I began talking again. This time I said "I can't believe there aren't ads on it yet!" That was refering to one of the project 365 videos we did that google was slow to put ads on. Then I talked about "I can't believe she got away with monetizing that!" Alex woke up from this and thought I was talking on the phone or something...and then I said two simple words... "CRACK DORA!" Obviously refering to this page.

Do you ever talk in your sleep? Let me know some of the weird things you say, or you've heard people say in their sleep!

SNUGALUTION

2009-02-06T20:15:00.000-08:00

GOALS

2009-02-03T00:12:00.000-08:00

Hello blog readers...how YOU doin?

I've been in California for 5 days now. This has been 5 days I haven't had to go to a crappy job, worry about anything, and just plain LIVE for these 5 days. This has given me time to think and to realize the awful path my life was heading down. At home a usual day ends up like this...Wake up - go to work - get on the computer - sleep - wake up - go to work - computer - sleep - wake up - work - computer - sleep.

The same awful process continues day after day. There's been no room to have a life, no time to enjoy the company of my friends. I've pretty much ruined most relationships with my real life friends and replaced them with a internet social life as a result of my awful work schedule and the demands.

I complain about my job a LOT on twitter...so there's an easy solution..right? Get another job. It's not that easy, but now I have a tripled motivation to do so. I am going to find another job within 31 days of my return.

That won't matter so much tho, here's the kicker. I am going to move - FOR SURE - this time not moving back, I am going to free myself of any and ALL stress because I didn't used to get stressed and life was so much better then. So the plan is to evade all stresses 100%.

With getting out of the depressing winter weather, getting a better job, and being able to enjoy life...I'm going to become a much happier person. I love being happy, and I love my time here in California. I enjoy EVERY DAY and I don't wake up here dreading anything or going to work.

Things are gonna change for me. I just have to work to achieve them and you can bet your butt I'm going to do that now.

SUMMER

2009-01-22T01:56:00.000-08:00

icanttakethecoldmuchlonger!

I absolutely 100% despise winter. I hate the cold, I hate the short days, I hate the dead look of trees and plants. I am 100% behind promoting global warming! One long year of summer is fine with me. Melt the north pole, screw the arctic. I want year round summer!

I love being able to hang out on the porch and play with my B/A cats...

And of course the beautiful Orlando sunrises!

Winter is too depressing.

10 days to california....

2009-01-19T10:33:00.000-08:00

At my job, with all the nice people comes a large number of really really angry people. These people live off zero patience, seem to enjoy getting upset, and must have THE WORST LIVES EVER! It seems their main goal is to make you angry like them and they won't stop until they've pissed you off. They get mad over the smallest things and even if it's not something you can control, they still get off on yelling at you.

While these people can initially piss me off, tho I won't show it...Immediately after they leave I'll bust out laughing because I just imagine how they must go home and kick a dog and then yell at their dog. They must have the worst lives going around mad at the world. I bet when they get a red light they think the world is gonna end. If they get bills in the mail, they prob punch their mailbox - then it breaks - then they get more mad!

Each time I deal with one of these people I realize more and more how much I have to be thankful for. I'm one of the most patient people in the world. I don't mind waiting in lines, I don't care if I get a red light, I take advantage of the situation (reply to a text, change cds, write something down)... I'm not gonna get mad at someone over something they can't control, that's just stupid!

So are you a happy person or angry person?

Oh and I hit 3,000 subs last night! Thanks so much to everyone subscribed and making youtube so much fun!!

Dating Season

2008-11-29T03:11:00.000-08:00

You might not know, but "Dating Season" ended November 26th. I've not had many girlfriends, nor do I really like to date, being young I find it pointless and I'm annoyed by most of it.

However, being a guy I have devised dating season for the sole purpose of saving my fellow man. Dating season ends the day before thanksgiving and resumes February 15th. Anyone who asks a girl out between those dates is dooming themself. And any smart guy will only date girls whose birthday is during the off season.

What's the point of all this you ask? Simple. It saves us guys A LOT of money. In the off season you have thanksgiving, Christmas (and/or Hanukkah, Kwanzaa), new years, valentines day, and possibly her birthday. Who wants to buy gifts for ALL of those holidays?

So I'm calling out to my fellow man, either follow dating season or be doomed.

Do YOU work here?

2008-10-19T01:32:00.000-07:00

I work in a drug store and the one question (besides "where's the bathroom") that bugs the crap out of me every time is one that people don't even have to ask. "Uhh, excuse me...do you work here?" When I put in my two weeks notice I won't be so nice and say "yes ma'am" instead I'll say "Oh, no ma'am, I just enjoy matching the uniform of the store I'm currently shopping in." I wonder how they'll like that? Then I'll continue putting things on the shelf and doing regular things that people who don't work there do.

RIP Rupert :(

2008-10-05T18:46:00.001-07:00

Today I learned Rupert "the tiny deer" has died.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1752359.ece

http://www.bucksherald.co.uk/news/Sadness-as-Rupert-the-baby.4551419.jp

:(

Most important blog of your life

2008-10-03T21:19:00.000-07:00

I hope I never again have to hear Britney Spears "Womanizer."

You'd better pray you don't either.

VMA Thoughts...Who watches MTV anymore?

2008-09-08T12:34:00.001-07:00

If you remember the line in my "Swingers Confessional" video - I said, "If MTV doesn't play music anymore, I guess it's just TV."

And that's exactly what it is. I don't know why they have a "Video Music Awards" show when they don't even play music videos. In my mind, that's like CMT (Country Music Television) playing reruns of Rob and Big.

The VMA's were a big scam, obviously by Britney Spears winning 3 "awards" (not too big of honors, obviously) for the "Piece of Me" video which is far from being a good video. The obvious reason behind her winning is so they could get her on there to make a fool of herself again and gain them ratings. Same reason behind their embarrassing host that EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT...He did exactly what they wanted him to do, tell me you haven't searched youtube for some of his remarks now.

And of course Miley Cyrus didn't win "best new artist" besides the fact that she definitely isn't, she's Disney's cash cow and they can't have her, so why give her face time when they can give it to the band with the freakishly dedicated following, Tokio Hotel.

So beyond his awful remarks about OUR President, his jokes about purity rings, and whatever else he may have said that I didn't hear, the awards themselves sucked. And I have to give MAJOR props to Jordin Sparks, because it was pretty brave of her to say something. She's a great role model, talented singer, and very good looking, but she's no Britney Spears, so don't give her an award...

So what'd YOU think? Were his comments just "comedy" or were they real jabs at America? Does Britney DESERVE any awards for that video? Is MTV just a joke these days?

Just for you MTV, here's two excellent videos, with great songs, from talented artists....1,000,000,000,000 times better than "Piece of Me."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8khHqMntkbQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkHTsc9PU2A

BTW, I didn't watch the VMA's.

King of Procrastion!

2008-09-01T16:40:00.000-07:00

Today I have got a lot done. I mowed most of the backyard and side (almost an acre) and I took a nap. That's a lot, isn't it?

I was supposed to film a collab clip this morning, but it's 8 PM and I haven't. I will go do it after this blog tho...I'm also late on another collab clip...Just a warning, if you want me in a collab, I'll prob do it, but I'm gonna be slack..haha!!

I'm really enjoying blogging and I'm starting to crank out videos a lot with my new camera...I'm gonna film another new video after my collab clips, I might even put it up tonight, but I want my post it note video to get the full effect. It's done really well tho, I will let you know if I get the voting round. And I'm going to vlog for the first and only time this week. You'll see.

So is everyone back in school now? That's a lot of things to slack on...haha...so rate yourself on being a slacker, post a comment - 10 being really slack, 1 being rarely to never slacking.

Next viral video...nothing else to say

2008-08-28T21:40:00.001-07:00

Dreams, debt, and music

2008-08-20T11:59:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had a dream about youtube or people you know from youtube? I've had two now...both very strange. The latest I dreamed I was in a class with.....ThatZak hahahaha and the teacher really loved Zak, but I was like a new student. So I didn't know anyone but Zak and I was pretty quiet. The teacher finally told me to start speaking up and I was like "oh you don't wanna say that cuz then I won't shut up..." It was a really long dream cuz we were in class forever, but never learned anything...then after a while she gave us a quiz and walked out of the room. I started laughing because this picture was on my quiz...

So I hadn't written anything on my paper yet and I passed it to Zak so he could see it. The teacher came back in as Zak was handing my paper back and she said "ohh cheating on the first day?!" And I said no that I hadn't written anything yet and she could look at it, we weren't cheating, just laughing about that joke. Then she said "well, you might not have been cheating YET, until you pull out an iPhone!" And that made no sense, but was really funny. Basically the rest of the dream we were just sitting in class...Really weird. So have you ever had a youtube related dream? Leave a comment and tell me about it!

I'm nearing eliminating my school debt...potentially gone in 2-3 pay checks...that will be so great to get done with that!!

If you haven't checked out this music, please take my recommendation and hit up iTunes!

Jack's Mannequin "The Resolution"
David Archuleta "Crush"
Steve Means "Rescue Me" (The album and single)
Jonathan Clay "Around and Round" and "A Little Time"
Gym Class Heroes "Cookie Jar"
3OH!3 "Don't Trust Me"
Jason Mraz "I'm Yours"

That's some good stuff.

KARMA

2008-08-18T20:10:00.000-07:00

Okay while I was at work today the funniest thing happened at my house.

My mom said some guy came to the door trying to sell ENCYCLOPEDIA SETS claiming he was from Arizona and blah blah blah scam. Not like we don't already have like 3 sets that sit in boxes in the garage pointlessly...I've tried and tried to get the parents to let me donate them. So this guy is too much of an idiot that despite the fact that my mom said we WOULD NOT buy a thing, we aren't going to spend the money and etc...He insists that she at least look at his catalog. So my mom is too nice and agrees...so he goes over and sits on the far seat on the porch. We have 2 chairs and a bench...My mom is about to go over and sit on the bench and he jumps up and starts jumping around....Bees made a hive underneath that chair and he got stung!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA normally I'd be sympathetic, especially if my mom actually was interested in what he was selling, but she kept saying no, but he insisted so now he what he deserved!! Oh man, I was rolling when she told me about that...what a moron!! That made my night!

not monday!

2008-08-18T09:47:00.000-07:00

So I am about to go to the lake and park to try to finish main shooting for my new video...ALSO hopefully I can film a collab clip that I've been super slack on.. ;) I'd love to have the video up tonight, although I have to go to work soon after I film. I'll stay up late editing if I get everything filmed though...haha

I really need to get another job and ASAP...although I'd be tickled pink if the internet could become my main source of income, but ya can't really count on it and I'm certainly not at that level.

Hopefully everyone will love the video tho.

Sunday blog

2008-08-17T11:24:00.000-07:00

So originally I was intending on having the new video done and up tonight, but not that lucky. :( so I'm hoping to finish filming at the lake and park tomorrow and have it up possibly by tuesday. With what I've done so far I think it could really turn out good and I hope everyone digs it.

I watched my Donnie Darko dvd last night and it was storming outside...that made the mood perfect for the movie. It's sooo good, if you haven't seen it, go buy it...don't rent it, cuz you'll want to keep it!! The sequel sounds interesting, I will DEF see it, but it makes me nervous.

I'm working hard on the new video and a collab idea...so be looking out for those!!

Quick update

2008-08-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

I'm waiting on Ben to get here so we can film the new vid...it's looking like it might rain - so that has me nervous. I'm really hoping this video comes out like I have it in my head...I'm not gonna rush editing for once..I wanna make sure it's the best it can be. I'm really excited about it...we're also planning on filming a sonic video that I'll hold onto until later since he lives outta town for school.

So glad it's the weekend..hope yours is good!

2000 Subs

2008-08-15T11:11:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much everyone who has subscribed to me on youtube!!!! I'm so excited to hit 2000 and hope things keep going!! I'll be doing a live show to celebrate soon. I was planning on for saturday, but one of my good friends surprised me and came into town since he had a few days off school, so instead saturday he's gonna help me film a new video....I'll give my blog readers some spoilers...It's a music video and it's for the current #1 song on iTunes. That's all you get. Don't tell anyone!! LOL

Off to work...Just gotta get through today to get 2 days off!

Oh my

2008-08-14T23:30:00.000-07:00

I have a website now. It's www.alwaystextback.com isn't that nifty? Thing is, it leads right back here. I might make an actual website of it soon though. But I will blog often...check back daily. I love you...a lot.

My first blog is blogesque

2008-08-14T20:45:00.000-07:00

Yes, I created a new word for my blog - blogesque. Do you like it?

I'm watching David Letterman since NBC has Olympics and take away Jay Leno and Conan for two weeks.

My friend Ben surprised me by coming into town today. Filming a wealth of new vids saturday with him...I hope everyone loves it!

So this was my first blog, very blogesque wasn't it?